Israir sells $8 million of New York flights within hours of opening bookings
Tickets on the first flights are already selling for about $2,500, while fares for later flights are considerably lower.
Israir reported that within a few hours of opening sales for its New York flights, it had received bookings worth about $8 million. Sales opened yesterday at 2 p.m. on a staggered basis, initially covering flights through the end of September, then expanding through the end of November. Tickets can now be booked through March 2027.
The prices are not cheap. A round-trip ticket on the first flights, between September 16 and 23, cost about $2,300. By Tuesday, the price had already risen to about $2,500.
Delta Air Lines, which renewed its route between Israel and New York only this week, opened sales months ago and is therefore now selling some of its remaining tickets at the higher end of its price range. A round-trip ticket is currently selling for $2,336.
There is, however, some good news for passengers willing to wait until after the holidays. Israir is offering more accessible fares for later flights. A round-trip ticket for mid-October, for example, is selling for $1,450, compared with $2,117 on Delta.
The launch of Israir's New York route puts the airline into competition with both Israeli and international carriers serving the market. The company is positioning the flights as part of its expansion into long-haul operations, following the receipt of the necessary approvals to operate flights to the United States.
The initial bookings provide an early indication of demand for the route, but it is still too soon to draw conclusions about load factors, profitability or the route's performance over time. The $8 million in bookings is a measure of sales, not yet evidence of how successful the route will ultimately be.
